Nihon Oxirane rolls over Aug styrene nomination

25 July 2008 04:15  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Japan’s Nihon Oxirane Co has nominated its August styrene monomer (SM) contract price at $1,700/tonne CFR (cost and freight) Asia, a rollover from the July number, a company source said on Friday.

Spot SM values fluctuated around $1,600-1,640/tonne CFR China in the second half of July as demand in the domestic market continued to falter, according to price data from global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

High feedstock cost has prompted several Japanese SM manufacturers to reduce operating rates. Nihon Oxirane had kept its plant at reduced rates of around 90% since April.

The company could cut operating rates further in the near term, although no firm decision has been reached yet.

While naphtha prices had retreated in tandem with the crude oil values recently, the fixed cost of the SM unit was still high due to the expensive steam prices in Japan.

“Our SM operation is facing poor margins,” the source added.

Nihon Oxirane, a joint venture of Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical and US major Lyondell Chemical, operates a plant in Sodegaura, Chiba prefecture, producing 180,000 tonnes/year of propylene oxide (PO) and 425,000 tonnes/year of SM.

For more on SM, PO visit ICIS chemical intelligence

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Author: Kenny Jin

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